The Australian share market is trading slightly higher, boosted by positive overseas leads and higher prices for base metals.
At 1200 AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 5.8 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 4,926.9 points, and the broader All Ordinaries index was 6.2 points, or 0.13 per cent, higher at 4,948.1 points.
On the ASX 24, the March share price index futures contract was eight points higher at 4,887 points, with 12,050 contracts traded.
City Index chief market analyst Peter Esho said the Australian bourse was taking its lead from stronger offshore markets.
“Some of that is just flowing into our market,” he said.
“The Japanese and Korean markets are again positive today.
“We’re going into (company) reporting season, and I think the market is expecting some fairly reasonable numbers.”
Mr Esho also said the resources sector was benefiting from strong prices for base metals, including copper.
Mr Esho said although the market was higher, there appeared to be some resistance developing among investors as the main indices moved towards the 5,000-point mark.
On Wall Street in the United States on Friday, the Dow JOnes Industrial Average closed above 14,000 points for the first time since October 2007 following a positive US jobs report.
The Dow lifted 149.21 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 14,009.79 points.
On the local market in the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton lifted nine cents to $38.01, and Rio Tinto climbed $1.02 to $68.22.
Fortescue Metals gained six cents at $4.85 after it agreed to stop work on the development of Iron Ore Holding’s Iron Valley deposit in Western Australia.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank eased 10 cents to $64.95, ANZ added 11 cents at $26.85, National Australia Bank gained four cents to $28.04, and Westpac slipped 16 cents to $28.14.
Among other stocks, Argo Investments nudged up one cent to $6.72 as it said it does not expect strong earnings growth from Australian companies this year, although investor confidence should improve.
National carrier Qantas Airways was 0.5 cents higher at $1.545 as it said it plans to broaden the number of destinations it flies to in Asia as part of its new alliance with Emirates.
National turnover at 1209 AEDT was 797.6 million securities worth $1.22 billion.
